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| -rw-r--r-- | app/views/help/about.rhtml | 68 |
1 files changed, 61 insertions, 7 deletions
diff --git a/app/views/help/about.rhtml b/app/views/help/about.rhtml index 55a277e09..42df392c8 100644 --- a/app/views/help/about.rhtml +++ b/app/views/help/about.rhtml @@ -74,17 +74,21 @@ primary care trusts or all schools, then please <dt id="quickly_response">How quickly will I get a response? <a href="#quickly_response">#</a> </dt> <dd> -<p>By law public authorities must respond "promptly", and in any event not later -than 20 working days after receiving your request. The date of that hard limit -is shown on the page for your request. </p> +<p>By law public authorities must respond "promptly", and in most cases not +later than 20 working days after receiving your request. The date of that hard +limit is shown on the page for your request. </p> -<p>You will be emailed if this date goes by -without a response, so you can send the public authority another note to remind -them that they are breaking the law. </p> +<p>You will be emailed if this date goes by without a response, so you can send +the public authority another note to remind them that they are breaking the +law. </p> <p><strong>Note:</strong> If you had to clarify your request, the clock starts from that date, instead of the date they received your initial request.</p> + +<p>See '<a href="#days">You've calculated our deadline wrongly!</a>' for +more details.</p> + </dd> <dt id="no_response">What if I never get a response?<a href="#no_response">#</a> </dt> @@ -396,6 +400,56 @@ needing any email, using the "respond to request" link at the bottom of each request page. </dd> +<dt id="days">You've calculated our deadline wrongly!<a href="#days">#</a> </dt> + +<dd> +<p>The Freedom of Information Act says: + +<blockquote>A public authority must comply with section 1(1) <strong>promptly</strong> and +in any event not later than the twentieth working day following the date of +receipt.</blockquote> + +<p>The nerdy detail of exactly how weekends are counted, and what happens if +the request arrives out of office hours, is just that - detail. What matters +here is that the law says authorities must respond <strong>promptly</strong>.</p> + +<p>If you've got a good reason why the request is going to take a while to +process, requesters find it really helpful if you can send a quick email with a +sentence or two saying what is happening. FOI officers often have to do a lot +of <strong>hard work</strong> to answer requests, and this is hidden from the public. We think +it would help everyone to have more of that complexity visible.</p> + +<p>All that said, WhatDoTheyKnow does attempt to show the maximum legal +deadline. Here is the complex detail of how we calculate it, and some things we +currently get wrong.</p> + +<ul> + +<li>If the day we deliver the request by email is a working day, we count that +as "day zero", even if it was delivered late in the evening. Days end at midnight. +We then count the next working day as "day one", and so on up to 20 days.</li> + +<li>If the day the request email was sent was a non-working day, we count the +next working day as "day zero". This isn't required by law, but it is an extra +extension that we kindly offer.</li> + +<li>We don't currently count extensions for Public Interest tests. Sorry +about that, we're working on how best to present it on the site.</li> + +<li>Since June 2009, schools now have "20 working days disregarding any working +day which is not a school day, or 60 working days, whichever is first". We +don't currently allow for that, but intend to in some way, especially if we add +more schools.</li> + +<li>Requesters are encouraged to mark when they have clarified their request so +the clock resets, but sometimes they get this wrong. If you see a problem with +a particular request, let us know and we'll fix it.</li> + + +</ul> + +</dd> + <dt id="large_file">How can I send a large file, which won't go by email?<a href="#large_file">#</a> </dt> <dd>Instead of email, you can respond to a request directly from your web @@ -427,7 +481,7 @@ Please <a href="/help/contact">contact us</a> if we've missed one. For technical reasons we don't remove them all from attachments, such as PDFs. </dd> -<dt id="commercial">What is your policy on copyright of documents?<a href="#copyright">#</a><a href="#commercial"></a> </dt> +<dt id="copyright"><a name="commercial"></a>What is your policy on copyright of documents?<a href="#copyright">#</a> </dt> <dd>Our Freedom of Information law is "applicant blind", so anyone in the world can request the same document and get a copy of it. |